Falsettone
Encyclopedia
Falsettone is a term used in modern Italian musicology to describe a vocal technique used by male opera singers in the past, in which the fluty sounds typical of falsetto
singing are amplified by using the same singing technique as is used in the modal voice register
. The result is a bright, powerful tone, often very high-pitched, although the sound is still different from and more feminine than that produced by the modal voice. The term falsettone is also used for the mixed vocal register that can be achieved using this technique.
s, baritenor
s, hautes-contre
and tenori contraltini of the Baroque
and Classical
eras. It was used from about A4 or B4 upwards.
According to various authors, baroque and neoclassical tenors simply used falsetto to sing high notes, with the exception of hautes-contre, who could reach up to B in what was claimed to be the modal voice register
but was really a "mixed head and chest voice, and not the full chest voice that Italian tenors would develop later". [Here, "head voice" refers to falsetto and "chest voice" refers to modal voice.]
Nowadays, the falsettone register is seldom used: such notes as high C, C-sharp, D and E are usually sung in the modal register (or, as it is sometimes misleadingly described, "from the chest"). Even the famous F5 of Bellini
’s I Puritani
, which used to be left out or sung falsetto (for example by Luciano Pavarotti
), has often been performed with modal voice by the new bel canto
tenor generation of the late twentieth century.
In that same period, Italian musicologist Rodolfo Celletti
, who was also an amateur singing teacher, tried to restore the falsettone technique, training the tenor Giuseppe Morino, who made his debut singing the tenore contraltino role of Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il pirata
, at the Festival della Valle d'Itria
in Martina Franca
.
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
singing are amplified by using the same singing technique as is used in the modal voice register
Modal voice
Modal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels...
. The result is a bright, powerful tone, often very high-pitched, although the sound is still different from and more feminine than that produced by the modal voice. The term falsettone is also used for the mixed vocal register that can be achieved using this technique.
History and description
Falsettone has reportedly been used by tenorTenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
s, baritenor
Baritenor
Baritenor is a musical term formed by a blend of the words "baritone" and "tenor". It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary it is defined as "a baritone singing voice with virtually a tenor range"...
s, hautes-contre
Haute-contre
The haute-contre is a rare type of high tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera until the latter part of the eighteenth century.-History:...
and tenori contraltini of the Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
and Classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
eras. It was used from about A4 or B4 upwards.
According to various authors, baroque and neoclassical tenors simply used falsetto to sing high notes, with the exception of hautes-contre, who could reach up to B in what was claimed to be the modal voice register
Modal voice
Modal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels...
but was really a "mixed head and chest voice, and not the full chest voice that Italian tenors would develop later". [Here, "head voice" refers to falsetto and "chest voice" refers to modal voice.]
Nowadays, the falsettone register is seldom used: such notes as high C, C-sharp, D and E are usually sung in the modal register (or, as it is sometimes misleadingly described, "from the chest"). Even the famous F5 of Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
’s I Puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, which used to be left out or sung falsetto (for example by Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
), has often been performed with modal voice by the new bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
tenor generation of the late twentieth century.
In that same period, Italian musicologist Rodolfo Celletti
Rodolfo Celletti
Rodolfo Celletti was an Italian musicologist, critic, voice teacher, and novelist. Considered one of the leading scholars of the operatic voice and the history of operatic performance, he published many books and articles on the subject as well as several novels.-Biography:Rodolfo Celletti was...
, who was also an amateur singing teacher, tried to restore the falsettone technique, training the tenor Giuseppe Morino, who made his debut singing the tenore contraltino role of Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il pirata
Il pirata
Il pirata is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani from a French translation of the tragic play Bertram, or The Castle of St Aldobrando by Charles Maturin...
, at the Festival della Valle d'Itria
Festival della Valle d'Itria
The Festival della Valle d’Itria is a summer opera festival held in the south eastern Italian town of Martina Franca in the Apulia region. The Festival was founded in 1975 and performances are given in July and August each summer on a specially constructed stage in the outdoor courtyard of the...
in Martina Franca
Martina Franca
Martina Franca is a town and comune in the province of Taranto, Apulia , Italy. It is the second most populated city of the province after Taranto....
.
Sources
- Rodolfo Celletti, A History of Bel Canto, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0198166419 (quotations from the Italian edition: Storia del belcanto, Discanto Edizioni, Fiesole, 1983)
- Salvatore Caruselli (ed), Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica, Longanesi &C. Periodici S.p.A., Rome, vol 4
- John Potter, Tenor, History of a voice, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2009, ISBN 978-0-300-11873-5
- Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of OperaThe New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992, 4 volumes, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2